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New changes in my 90g

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Ok, I'm posting here cuz this is more like a glorified aquarium.

I've been adding benefical bacteria for the spring start up and for awhile things were static. Now my reading have changed to the following:
Ammonia went down to 1
Nitrites went up to .25
Nitrates stayed at 20

The brown stuff sounds like diatoms which can be typical for tanks with new substrate. They typically go away on their own

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]

Have you tried to find pure ammonia to cycle your tank. If there is a ace hardware store near you, you might want to take a look. I have found using pure ammonia a lot better and easier than shrimp or fish food.

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]

Well the shrimp did what I wanted, created ammonia. Since then, I had nitrites rise and then disappear, nitrates appear. Sooo, it seems I'm making progress.
Now the new bacteria seem to have broken down some ammonia to nitrites etc. I added the bacteria since it has been unusually cold..a boost

The reason why I asked about using pure ammonia is that you need to have a fairly constant supply of ammonia to keep feeding the ammonia to both keep it alive and to continue growing even more. I have found that using pure ammonia is easier for that is all

I never said/implied you were not making progress.

Just offering options to make things easier

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]

Oh I didn't take offense. Sry if I came across that way. I'm typing on my phone, so its not as fluid as on the computer. I had my ammonia up at 4, and its been decreasing. Should I stoke it? The ammonia

When it drops some more getting closer to 0, add about half of the shrimp as when you started. Repeat with that same amount of shrimp until you get a bigger nitrite spike and the nitrites disappear

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]